CARTOON KING AT AGE 13; NICKELODEON TAPS SIMI BOY FOR NEW SHOW.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer John Reynolds There are several men named John Reynolds:
And, oh yeah, he has a cartoon premiering tonight on Nickelodeon. John, who lives in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. with his mom, Sandy, his brother, Kyle, and a couple of pets, has had a thing for drawing comics since he was 5. Little did he know that something so fun could earn him money while he was in the seventh grade. This is no ordinary kid-sized success story about a winning contest entry. John's dad, Ray, is acquainted with Butch Hartman, a producer at Nick's ``Oh Yeah! Cartoons Oh Yeah! Cartoons is a late-1990s American animation showcase that appeared on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Oh Yeah! was an animation project guided by Fred Seibert, former Creative Director of MTV Networks and President of Hanna-Barbera. !'' show. He sent some of John's latest character illustrations to Hartman, just seeking some professional feedback. Hartman was so impressed that he showed the drawings to his boss, a deal was struck, and John Reynolds at age 12 was turning pro. John was asked to come up with a storyboard A sequence of images and annotations for a cartoon, animation or video. Storyboards are previews of the final version and typically contain mockups rather than final art and images. Before computers, storyboards were drawn with pen and ink on lightweight cardboard. for a seven-minute short, including the plot, additional characters and dialogue. He accepted help from Hartman on some story elements and was given a say in voice casting. Hartman polished the sketches and animated it. ``I got to watch the process without color, then with color and without music,'' said John, who spent many Friday afternoons at the Nicktoons Animation Studios in Burbank. The result is ``Terry and Chris,'' about a 12-year-old boy and the very unusual cockatiel cockatiel Crested, small, gray Australian parrot (Nymphicus hollandicus). It has a yellow head, red ear patches, and a heavy beak used to crack nuts. The cockatiel is in the same family (Cacatuidae) as the larger cockatoo. About 13 in. he buys with his birthday money. The bird was inspired by John's own pet, Petrie, with a healthy dose of imagination thrown in. In the cartoon, Terry not only imitates human voices he hears, his head morphs into the shape of the person he mimics. ``I don't even know how I thought of that,'' John said with a laugh. ``I thought he'd copy them, then I said, 'Why not make him look like them?' '' John says he decided on a career in cartooning about three years ago, but his experience making ``Terry and Chris'' has firmed up that goal. He made $5,000 on the job, a pittance pit·tance n. 1. A meager monetary allowance, wage, or remuneration. 2. A very small amount: not a pittance of remorse. for a year's work in the life of a grown-up grown-up adj. 1. Of, characteristic of, or intended for adults: grown-up movies; a grown-up discussion. 2. , but way more than he could have earned mowing the neighbor's yard. With this credit under his belt, John probably has the most impressive resume of any eighth-grader at Valley View Middle School. But you won't find him reading the trades by a Beverly Hills hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel is a hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, at 9641 Sunset Boulevard. It was opened on May 12, 1912 and started by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, who had been managing the Hollywood Hotel. pool, or doing lunch with agents anytime soon. He has a pleasing degree of naivete na·ive·té or na·ïve·té n. 1. The state or quality of being inexperienced or unsophisticated, especially in being artless, credulous, or uncritical. 2. An artless, credulous, or uncritical statement or act. in his voice when he talks about the future of ``Terry and Chris'': ``We're going to see how it does, if it gets a good rating or something, and then they may want to make it a series.'' He has hopes of doing another cartoon someday for Nickelodeon, maybe ``Wrinkled Powerhouse,'' about a bunch of crime-fighting grandmothers who nail bad guys by throwing their teeth or wigs at them. Meanwhile, Reynolds sits in his small bedroom playing with Petrie, pasting articles like this and other ``Terry and Chris'' mementos in a scrapbook A Macintosh disk file that holds frequently used text and graphics objects, such as a company letterhead. Contrast with "clipboard," which is reserved memory that holds data only for the current session. , and transplanting new ideas from his fertile imagination onto the blank pages of a sketchbook. ?The facts The show: ``Terry and Chris.'' What: An original cartoon created by 13-year-old John Reynolds of Simi Valley. Where: Nickelodeon. When: 6 tonight. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) ``Terry and Chris,'' debuting at 6 tonight on Nickelodeon, is the brainchild of John Reynolds, 13, of Simi Valley, who got inspiration for the project from his pet cockatiel, Petrie. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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